Napping or felt conditioning apparatus



g- 30, 1932- F. FLYNN I 1,874,270

NAPPING 0R FELT CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed May 22. 1951 INVENTORMorfimer F. F] n I I8 I BY Al 22 i j M HIS RNEY Patented Aug. 30, 1932UNITED S TA S ,P'ATENTQOFFICE NEW YORK, ASSIGIFT OR TO BIRD MA- CHINECOMPANY, or soon: wALroLE, massacizosnmrs, A oonronerion or MAS-SACHUSETTS Application filed May 22,

The invention relates in general to apparatus for producing orrenovating nap on fabrics, and more particularl to apparatus forreconditioning thefelts o papermaking machines. Aprincipal object istoprovide novel and lmproved, means for cleanlng,

formof a continuous belt or conveyor, is effected by applying to itssurface properly pointed teeth carried by a rotary drum or cylinder, sothat the teeth restore the matted nap of the felt to propercondition andalso remove particles of pulp. which tend to. fill .or clogthe felt.This roll is traversed later.-

ally of the felt while the latter moves continuously about'its pulley,so that. the entire surface. of the felt is treated inthe reconditioningprocess. f

A principal feature of the present'invention is the provision inconnection with the reconditioning roll and its traversing means,ofcombing. and stripping means cooperating with the teeth or bristlesofthe roll to strip or clear therefrom particles'of lint, paper pulp,etc. which are taken up by the condi tioning roll inoperation, thuskeeping the roll in proper-condition for proper action upon the felt.The comb has teeth normally enteringbetween the teeth or bristlesoftheconditioning roll,-and the stripper is provided with teethlocatedbetween the comb teeth; provision is made for intermittently orperiodically movin thecomb away from the zone of the bristles 'of theconditioning roll, and in such movement the'stripper cooperates with thecomb to discharge from it the material which it has removed fromthebristles. This periodical withdrawal of the combis effectedautomatically by the lateral transversing movement of. the conditioningapparatus. v i p L l I An important feature is themountingor arrangementof the; conditioning apparatus,

NAPPING on FELT oonmr'ronme APPARATUS 1931. Serial No. 539,180;

back and remain upon the felt, as occurs when conditioning apparatus isarranged above an active stretch of the felt.

The characteristics and in connection with the following detaildescription of the accompanying drawing, which shows one preferred.embodiment. After considering this example, skilled per.- sons willunderstand thatmany changes may be' made without departing from theprinciples disclosed; and I contemplate the ,emv.ployment of anystructures that are properly withinthe scope of the appendedclaims,

' Fig. 1 isa verticalsection of. conditioning apparatus embodying theinventionin one form. r i I, Fig. 2 is a bottom plan, with some parts-insection. r 1

Fig.3 is a sectional detail at 3--3 of Fig. 1. .In Figs. 1 and 2, 1 isthe lower stretch of afelt,;rfelt apron, of a paper. making machine,,;of the character briefly referred'to above and more particularlydescribed hereinafter. This apron passes about pulleys of which onepulley: 2 is shown, revolva bly supported in a frame structure of themachine. Oneof the frame uprights -3 is illustrated. The conditioningapparatus is arranged below the lower stretch 1 of the felt. Thisiapparatus, except forfimproved features presently described, comprisesa supporting beam 5 which is itself supported on the frame uprights 3The web of beam 5 is horizontal and its flanges 6arevertically'disposed, to constitute rails for the carriage wheels orrolls. The carriage 7 of the conditioning mechanism is of inverted Uform, straddling the supporting beam 5, and has flanged rolls 8 on upperand lower shafts 9 and 10, respectively engaging the upper and lowerportions of thebeam flanges 6 to guide the carriage forreciprocationtransversely ofcthe machine and of the felt 1. 1

The carriage 7 has arms 11 provided with advantages 'of the inventionare further sufliciently' explained V at the saine time remove particlesof the paper shock or jar.

pulp. The roll shaft 13 has at its ends pulleys 17 connected by belts 18to pulleys 19 which are revolvably mounted in bearings 20 on thecarriage. lkclutch rod' on shaft 21 is arranged to reciprocate in thepulleys 19, and carries clutch members--22-which are pinned or otherwiseconnected to the clutch rod. The teeth of these clutchmembers'c'oopera'te with complementalteeth 23 of ratchet form on therespective pulleys 19. The clutch rod 21 supports spacing sleeves 24,25,and a worm sleeve 26 located between the spacing sleeves. This wormsleeve has a slot 27, and a key or pin 28 fixed int-he clutch rodengages in the slot to rotarily drive the worm sleeve and also to permitthe shifting movement of'the rod.

The worm sleeve has a worm 26a engaging a small worm gear 29 onthe'upper end of a vertical shaft 30 mounted in'a bearing 31 in theupper portion of the carriage. Fixed on' the lower end of this shaft isa spur pinion32 engaginga rack 33 secured to the web of the-supportingframe 5 so that when the worm is rotated in either direction shaft 30isrotated, and by engagement of pinion 32 with the rack 33 the carriageis traversed on the supporting beam in a corresponding direction. Oneofthe belts 18 is open and the other is crossed, as clearly indicated inFigure 2 so that as the conditioning roll 14 is rotated in the directionof the arrow'Fig. 1 by tractive force of the belt 1 in a direction alsoindicated by an adjacent arrow, one of the pulleys 19 is driven in onedirection and the other is driven in the'oppositedirec'tion.Axial'fshifting of the clutch 'rodQ21'is therefore effective to traversethe carriage in either. direction and so to move the conditioning 'rollback and forth laterally across the under surface of the felt '1, as thefelt continuously advances in the indicated direction. The traversingmovement of the carriage is thus effected by tractive engagement of'theconditioning roll with the felt.

Shifting of the clutch rod isaccomplished by engagement with stops 35adjustably supported at opposite ends-of the supporting beam 5, only oneof these stops being shown,

- in Fig.2. Oushioningsprings[36 are provided on the ends of the clutchrod 21, extending beyondthe rod ends, and it is the ends of the springswhich actually engage the stops, thus providing acu'shioned,automatically effected shifting movement of the rod and rev'ersalofcarriage travel without undesirable The invention includes as aprincipal feature a comb 40, Fig. 1, comprising a base or supportingstrip 41 providedwith combing teeth 42 having their end portionsslightly curved as at 43, and usually pointed. These teeth are soarranged on the supporting strip that they are located between theannular rows of napping bristles 15'as well shown in Figs. land 2. Thecomb strip is supported atits ends by arms 44, secured to a rod or shaft45, which is mounted to oscillate in bearing sleeves 46 which'aresecured'on or formed integrally with the carriage arms 11. On each endof the comb shaft is an arm 48, each carrying-acam follower 49, whichdesirably is, as shown, of ball form, and may be mounted to rotate onthe end of its arm 48.

Each of these followers cooperates with a cam, or cam channel 50,defined by upper and lower parallel or other suitably relatedflanges 51and 52 on a plate 53, which is secured to one of the flanges 6 of thesupporting beam 5. Only one of these cam plates is shown in the drawing.but of course, there is another 'one-at the otherend 'of the supportingbeam comb teeth 42. It will be observed that the direction of'rotationof the conditioning roll in relation to the comb teeth is such that bythe slight frictional engagement of the bristles with the comb teeth thecomb tends normally to be held in active position as shown 'in Fig. 1,and also tends to remain in this position by gravity and by the weightof arms 48 and their cam followers 49, while the carriage is atintermediate points ofits lateral travel.

' As the carriage approaches one end of its travel, the cam follower 49at the end of shaft 45 corresponding to the direction in which thecarriage is moving, enters the corresponding cam channel 50 and thefollower is deflected upward by the lower flange 52, thus oscillatingthe shaft 45 and moving the comb teeth in an arcuate path away from thebristles 15, and at the same time the comb teeth wlpe across thestripping teeth 61, which remove from the comb the fibrous or othermaterial which it has removed from the bristles,

thus keeping the comb practically clear and clean and in propercondition to keep the bristles in clear and clean condition, since thestripping or clearing action of the comb occurs at each end of thecarriage travel. On return movement, that is, after reversal of carriagemovement, the cam follower 49 is forced downward by the upper cam flange51, thus positively returning the comb to active position in relation tothe stripper and with tang-21b its teeth located between the bristles ofthe conditioning roll; and the comb remains in this position during thelateral traversing of the carriage until it reaches the other end ofsuch traversing movement, whereupon the comb is again withdrawn, andsoon.

It will now be understood that thiscombing and stripping mechanism maybe applied to other fabric conditioning apparatus or to apparatus of thepresent general type or class used for other purposes, as, for example,in vacuum cleaners having napping, pile raising or renovating means toact on carpets, rugs or the like while the vacuum suction is applied,substantially as disclosed in my c0- pending application, Serial No.272,967, filed April 26, 1928 for apparatus for cleaning andconditioning fabrics; and the present application is in part acontinuation of that application.

I claim:

1. Fabric conditioning apparatus comprising a conditioning roll havingbristles engaging the fabric, and a comb having teeth engaging betweenannular rows of the bristles and acting to clear therefrom lint andother material taken up by the bristles, periodically effective meansfor limiting the extent of travel of said roll and means for removingthe comb from the zone of the bristles, said removing means beingeffective at the respective limits of the travel of said conditioningroll.

2. Fabric conditioning apparatus comprising a conditioning roll havingbristles engaging the fabric, and a comb having teeth engaging betweenannular rows of the bristles and acting to clear therefrom lint andother material taken up by the bristles, and

means for periodically removing the comb from the zone of the bristles,and a stripper acting in such movement of the comb to remove the statedmaterials from the comb.

3. Felt conditioning apparatus for purposes described, in combinationwith the lower stretch of a traveling felt, said apparatus comprising aconditioning roll arranged below and in contact with the under surfaceof said lower stretch of the felt, and means for traversing theconditioning roll laterally in relation to the felt, and a comb forclearing from the roll fibrous matter removed from the felt and meansfor periodically retracting the comb.

4. Felt conditioning apparatus for purposes described, in combinationwith the lower stretch of a traveling felt, said apparatus comprising aconditioning roll arranged below and in contact with the under surfaceof said lower stretch of the felt, and means for traversing theconditioning roll laterally in relation to the felt, and a comb forclearing from the roll fibrous matter removed from the belt, and astripper cooperating with the comb.

bristles.

5. "Fabric conditioning apparatus com prising'f-a reciprocatingcarriage, a conditioning roll revolvably mounted in the carriage andhaving bristles to cooperate with a fabric, a comb having teethinterspaced Withthe bristles, and means {for periodically retracting theicomb teeth from the bristle zone.- 3 V 6. Fabric conditioning apparatuscolnprising a reciprocating carriage,'a conditioning roll revolvablymountedfin the carriage and havingbristles tocooperate with V'afabric,acomb'having teeth interspacedwith the bristles, and means acting atends of'the carriage travel to retract the comb fromthe 7 Fabricconditioning apparatus comprising areciprocating carriage, aconditioning 'roll revolvably mounted in thecarriage and having bristlesto cooperate with afabric, a combfha'ving teeth interspaced with thebristles, and means acting at ends of the carriage trat el'to'retractthe comb from the bristles, and a stripper on the carriage hav- I ingteeth interspaeed with the comb teeth and acting when the comb isretracted from the bristles 'to' clear-fibrous material from the comb.-r i i 8. Fabric conditioning-apparatuscomprising a reciprocatingcarriage, a conditioning roll revolvably mounted in thecarriage andhaving bristles to;cooperate with a fabric, a comb having teethinterspaced with theibristies, and means acting at endsof the carriagetravel toretrac't the comb from the bristles, saidmeans comprising camsinfixed position and cam followers connected to the comb.

59. Fabric conditioning apparatus comprisinga reciprocating carriage, aconditioning 7 "roll revolvably mounted in the carriage and "havingbristles to cooperate with a fabric, means actuated by rotation of theconditioning roll to traverse the carriage, a comb having teethinterspaced with the bristles, and

means for periodically retracting the comb teeth from thebristlezone. ai

j '10. Fabric-"conditioning apparatus comprising a reciprocatingcarriage, a conditioning roll revolvably mounted in the carriage "andhaving bristles cooperate with a fabric, means actuated by-rotation ofthe conditioning roll to traverse the carriage, a comb*ha'vingteethinterspaced with the bristles,

andmean's acting at ends of the carriage travel to retract the comb fromthe bristles.

; 11: Feltconditioning apparatus'for pur-' poses described, incombination with the low- :er stretchfof atraveling felt, saidapp'aratuscomprising a'conditi'oning' roll arranged below and-in conta'ct'with theunder surface of said lower stretch of the felt, means for traversingthe conditioning roll laterally in relation to the felt, a combforclearing from theroll fibrous matter removed from the felt, Q

3 li-i zsaw mined; locations of the lateral travel of said conditioningroll for effecting relative move- -ment between said-comb and saidstripper, to thereby clear said comb of lint and other material. I-,12.:Felt conditioning apparatus for purposes described, in combinationwith the lower stretch of a traveling felt, said apparatus comprising aconditioning roll arranged be- 'l low and in contact with the undersurface of .said lowerstretch of the felt, means for traversing theconditioning roll laterally in relation to thefelt, a comb for clearingfrom the fibrous matter removed from the felt and means for periodicallyretracting the comb, a a

stripper, and cam operated means effective at predetermined-locationsoflateral travel of said'cconditioning roll for displacing said combrelative to said stripper to thereby clear 33 the comb relative to saidstripper to thereby clear the comb of lint and other material. I 13.Fabric conditioning apparatus comprising a reciprocating carriage, acondition- .ing roll revolvably mounted in the carriage 3 and havingbristles to cooperate witha fabric, a comb having teeth interspaced withthe bristles,means for reciprocating said carriage in the direction ofthe axis of said roll, and cam operatedmeans acting at ends of thereciprocating travel of said carriage to retract v the comb from thebristles.

l4.- Fabric conditioning apparatus comprising a reciprocating carriage,a conditioning roll revolvably mounted in the carriage and havingbristles to cooperate with a fabric,

means actuated by rotation of the conditioning rolLto traverse thecarriagein a direction of the axisof said conditioning roll, a combhaving teeth interspaced with the bristles,

1121 and means effective at predetermined locations of-the path of axialtravel of the conditioningroll for retracting the comb teeth ,7 'fromthe bristle zone. a

15. Felt conditioning apparatus for purv 1 poses described, incombination with a stretch of a travelling felt, said apparatuscomprising a conditioning roll provided with bristles, a comb engagingthe bristles of said conditioning roll, means for moving the comb in adirection away from the bristles,and stripper means acting to clear thecomb upon such movement of said comb.

16. Felt conditioning apparatus for purposes described, in combinationwith a lower 5,5 stretching a travelling felt, said apparatus comprisinga conditioning roll provided with bristles, a comb engaging the bristlesof said conditioning roll, means for moving the comb in a direction awayfrom the bristles, and stripper means acting to clear the comb upon suchmovement of said comb.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification this 15th day ofApril, 1931.

' -MORTIMER F. FLYNN.

